Industry News

Kendall Packaging, a 30-year corporate citizen of Pittsburg, KS, will be investing up to $10 million on an expansion that will support its current growth plan and contribute significantly to area economic development efforts. Through a partnership with the City of Pittsburg, the flexible packaging converter will be more than doubling its current plant size and adding jobs within the near future.

"This is our second major expansion in three years," says Eric Erickson III, Kendall Packaging president/CEO. "Between the Pittsburg plant and our facility in Jefferson, WI, we will have invested approximately $17 million in new equipment and added plant capacity. As a corporation, we have experienced an exceptional growth rate and want to continue that trend."

As the expansion officially kicks off during a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 21 in Pittsburg’s Northeast Regional Industrial Park, Kendall Packaging will be adding 59,000 sq ft to its building and new equipment to complement its manufacturing capabilities. Equipment includes a 10-color flexographic printing press, a solventless laminator, a slitter and other ancillary equipment.

"We really need this expansion," adds Jack Trostle, Pittsburg plant manager. "Right now, we are maxed out as far as what we can do. Our employees are working at full capacity to provide superior customer service and a world-class product. Expanding is the only logical conclusion as we look at our current manufacturing platform."

By adding new equipment and expanding the physical footprint of the plant, Kendall Packaging can add state-of-the-art processes that are an important part of Kendall’s long-term strategic plans.

Agreements with the City of Pittsburg will allow Kendall Packaging to borrow funds from a Community Development Block Grant and an Industrial Revenue Bond issue that will provide low-cost financing for the project and temporary tax abatement on the plant expansion.With the groundbreaking scheduled in just a couple of weeks, Erickson projects the construction phase to be complete by July 2017, and all new equipment to be up and running by September 2017. Kendall Packaging plans to hire 15 new employees over the next several months to support the expansion.

As Kendall Packaging looks to the future with this expansion, their commitment to quality and service remains the same. "To us, this provides the Pittsburg plant with the platform and foundation to stay current with the emerging technologies in the flexible packaging industry. This means we plan to stay and grow in southeast Kansas for a long, long time," says Erickson.